Toys for 2 Year Olds

With their imaginations gearing up for a magical childhood, 2 year olds are able to play simple pretend games and will benefit from adult guidance in their play. Two year olds love to make discoveries, work on simple puzzles, draw and stay busy! Repetitive activities, pretend play toys, memory games and simple ride on toys are great fun educational toys for 2 year olds!

Toys for Two Year Olds Buying Guide

It's an exciting year as your two year old expands her vocabulary and starts to exercise her imagination. She's beginning to draw, work on simple puzzles and ask questions. You'll be hearing the word "no" a lot this year as she continues to discover the use of language.

She has big emotions that she's still learning to identify and control. She needs you to listen to her when she's upset and give her lots of positive attention. The more she learns, the more she'll want to know, and you can be there to share in her discoveries!

Growing Developments

A block might become a train or a boat as she begins to use objects to represent new things in play

She likes to imitate others and watch what they do

She engages in parallel play, doing similar activities near other children, but she seldom directly with her playmates

Her play is simple and repetitious

She puts words together to make sentences and can follow simple instructions

She uses fifty to three hundred different words and can understand significantly more than she can express

Her eye–hand coordination is improving and she can put objects together and take them apart

She is impatient, doesn't like to wait and verbally demands things from adults and caregivers

She can use one characteristic to sort and classify objects and is discovering causes and effects

She believes that objects have feelings and that toys are alive

Guide to Toys

Look for toys that will allow your two-year-old to make new discoveries—giving her a sense of accomplishment

Introduce pretend play toys that your two-year-old will be able to relate to her own life, like doll houses, animals and play food

Help to develop your two-year-olds' coordination and provide a fun way to exercise with foot-to-floor ride on toys

Best Play Value Toys for 2 Year Olds

Rockers and Rocking Horses

Push Ride On Toys

Bath Toys

Toddler and Preschool Puzzles

Sorting Toys

Top Brands for 2 Year Olds

Kid Galaxy My First RC Toys

Melissa and Doug Fresh Start Puzzles

Alex Bath Toys and Sunny Patch Beach Toys

Wow Toys

Schylling Toys

Choosing Toys for 2 Year Old Girls and Boys

It's important to look beyond stereotypes when it comes to shopping for toys. All kids can benefit from playing with toy cars or dolls! However, some shoppers may be in need of inspiration and shopping by gender can narrow down the options.

There is little gender differentiation between toys for 2 year old boys and girls. You might consider things like color scheme when shopping for a particular gender. Popular toys for girls include animal puzzles, bath time dolls and fairy themed pretend play sets. Popular toys for boys include vehicle themed puzzles, construction vehicle ride-on toys and train themed toys. You can also view our best selling toys for girls or boys by selecting the gender and "most popular" from the drop down menu on the green bar in the center of the page.

Ways to Play

Your two year old can solve simple problems and puzzles through trial and error. She tries she practices activities many times to master them. To play together, you can bang on pots, draw and show her how to manipulate clay. She also enjoys listening to you read and might pretend to read alone to herself.

Additionally, this is the first year that your child is really using her imagination. At first, her imaginative play is somewhat limited to reenacting familiar scenarios. You can join her by suggesting new details for her games and asking questions that get her thinking. Try things like, "what would dolly like to do after you feed her breakfast?" or "would your puppy like to take a trip to the lake?" By encouraging her to expand her imaginative play, you'll be encouraging her creativity and helping her gain an understanding of the world.

Your child thrives on positive attention from you. Give her lots of encouragement and talk together to help build her vocabulary. Although you'll hear her say "no" a lot this year, she will also begin asking "why," "what," and "how" questions. She might need to have the same questions answered multiple times before she fully registers and accepts the answers. Your two-year-olds might be challenging to parent, but she's also a lot of fun as she begins making sense of her world through play!